Getting started

Two minutes from install to your first dictation.

1. Finish setup

   Open Kudu. The Home page shows what’s left: allow the microphone (and, on a Mac, Accessibility, which lets Kudu notice its shortcut and type for you), then download the speech model. After that Kudu works offline.

2. Click into any text field

   A message, an email, a document, a search box, a terminal. Kudu types wherever the cursor is.

3. Hold the shortcut, speak, let go

   The pill at the bottom of the screen shows your voice while you speak. When you let go, the text appears at the cursor.

Shortcuts

Change any of them in Settings → Shortcuts: click Change and press the keys you want. Modifier keys on their own (like fn, Right Alt or Ctrl + Alt) are held to talk; a key with modifiers (like Alt + Space) works too.

Hands-free recording

For longer dictations, double-tap the shortcut: Kudu keeps listening (the pill shows a small red dot) until you tap it once more. In Settings → Recording you can switch to “tap to start, tap to stop”, or to hold-only.

Command mode

Select some text, hold the Command shortcut and say what to do with it: “make this more formal”, “make it shorter”, “fix the grammar”, “turn this into a list”. With nothing selected, say what to write: “write a polite reply saying I’ll be late”.

Tips for great results

• Speak naturally and in full sentences; you don’t need to say punctuation.
• Say “new line” or “new paragraph” to break lines.
• Changed your mind? Say “no wait” or “or rather”: “at five, no wait, six” becomes “at six”.
• Add names and jargon to your dictionary, or just fix them once after a dictation; Kudu learns them.
• Use a good microphone and a quiet room for the best accuracy; a headset helps a lot.

Next: everything Kudu does.